Federal Retirement Planning at the Denver Federal Center

Q: When can a federal employee retire under FERS?

Under FERS, eligibility for retirement depends on both age and years of service. You can retire with an immediate, unreduced annuity at your Minimum Retirement Age with 30 years of service, at age 60 with 20 years, or at age 62 with at least 5 years. Your MRA ranges from age 55 to 57 depending on birth year. Other options including MRA+10, deferred, and postponed retirement may apply.

Q: How is my FERS pension calculated?

The FERS pension formula is 1 percent times your years of creditable service times your high-three average salary. If you retire at age 62 or later with at least 20 years of service, the multiplier increases to 1.1 percent. The high-three is the average of your highest 36 consecutive months of basic pay.

Q: What happens to my TSP when I retire?

You have several options: leave your TSP and take periodic withdrawals, roll it to an IRA, take a lump sum, or elect a TSP life annuity. The right choice depends on your income needs, tax situation, and how you weigh flexibility versus simplicity.

Q: Can I keep FEHB into retirement?

Yes, if you have been continuously enrolled in FEHB for the five years immediately before retirement. FEHB then continues into retirement at the same premium share. At age 65, Medicare enrollment becomes a separate decision that coordinates with FEHB.

Q: What is the FERS Supplement and who gets it?

The FERS Supplement is a bridge benefit paid from your retirement date until age 62, for FERS retirees on an immediate, unreduced annuity. It approximates the Social Security benefit you earned during federal service and is subject to an earnings test if you work in retirement.

Q: How does Survivor Benefit Plan work?

At retirement, FERS and CSRS retirees can elect to reduce their own annuity in exchange for a survivor annuity paid to a spouse after the retiree dies. FERS offers 25 percent or 50 percent options. The decision is generally made once at retirement and is difficult to change later.

Q: Do I need a financial advisor for federal retirement, or can I figure it out myself?

Many federal employees can navigate the basics. The risk lies in coordinating CSRS or FERS, TSP, FEHB, FEGLI, SBP, and Social Security, where most costly and irreversible mistakes happen.

STONEBRIDGE CAPITAL MANAGEMENT • SERVING THE DENVER FEDERAL CENTER

You’ve earned a federal retirement worth understanding clearly. We help federal employees across the Denver metro area coordinate CSRS, FERS, TSP, FEHB, FEGLI, and Social Security into one clear retirement plan, so you can make confident decisions about when to retire, how your income will work, and how to protect the benefits you’ve earned.

Get Your Federal Retirement Report

What Federal Retirement Planning Actually Covers

Federal retirement is rarely one decision. It is a series of interconnected decisions, each with its own rules, deadlines, and financial consequences.

When should you retire? How much will your FERS or CSRS pension provide? What should you do with your Thrift Savings Plan? How will FEHB coordinate with Medicare? Does FEGLI still make sense as premiums rise? What survivor benefits should you elect? When should you claim Social Security? Is a military service deposit worth pursuing?

Each of these decisions matters on its own. More importantly, each decision affects the others.

The job of a federal retirement planner is to look at the entire picture at once. Retirement income, healthcare, taxes, survivor protection, and benefit elections cannot be evaluated in isolation. The goal is to bring them together into one coordinated retirement strategy.

At Stonebridge Capital Management, we help federal employees throughout the Denver metro area and Colorado Front Range understand their options, evaluate the trade-offs, and create a clear plan for retirement built around the benefits they have earned.

Why Federal Retirement is Different From Civilian Retirement

Federal retirement planning is not simply retirement planning with a government pension attached. It is a specialized planning discipline with its own rules, deadlines, and financial trade-offs.

A federal employee can make all the right investment decisions and still make costly mistakes with benefit elections. Retirement eligibility, pension calculations, healthcare decisions, survivor benefits, and withdrawal strategies all carry consequences that often do not exist in the private sector.

Consider a few examples. Missing the FEHB eligibility requirements before retirement can jeopardize your ability to carry health coverage into retirement. FEGLI costs can rise dramatically with age. The FERS Supplement may be reduced by post-retirement earnings. TSP withdrawal decisions can create unnecessary taxes or missed opportunities. Survivor benefit elections can affect a spouse’s financial security for decades.

The challenge is not understanding any one benefit in isolation. The challenge is understanding how all of the pieces fit together. For federal employees who want a broader educational overview before working through their own plan, our Federal Retirement Workshop is designed to help explain the major benefit programs and retirement decisions in plain language.

Our role is to help federal employees coordinate retirement benefits, income planning, tax strategy, healthcare decisions, and survivor protection into one comprehensive retirement plan so that important decisions are made deliberately rather than by default. Learn more about our approach and what makes Stonebridge Capital Management different.

What You Get When You Work With Stonebridge

A Personalized Federal Retirement Roadmap

We bring together your pension, TSP, FEHB, FEGLI, survivor benefits, Social Security, and retirement timing into one coordinated retirement plan.
You’ll see where you stand today, the options available to you, your projected retirement income, and a retirement timeline you can move toward with confidence.

Plain-Language Guidance, Not Sales Pressure

Federal retirement is complicated enough without jargon, sales tactics, or manufactured urgency.
We explain your options clearly, answer your questions honestly, and help you understand the trade-offs before making decisions.
Decisions happen at your pace, not ours.

Colorado-Based Federal Retirement Specialists

Stonebridge is based in the Denver metro area and serves federal employees throughout Colorado’s Front Range.
Meet with us in person at our Inverness office or virtually from anywhere in Colorado.
When questions arise, you’ll have a local team you can reach, not a national call center.

Ready to see how the pieces fit together for your specific situation?

Get Your Federal Retirement Report

Topics We Help Federal Employees In Denver Navigate

The federal retirement decisions that drive lasting income are concentrated in a handful of benefit programs. Each has its own complexity, and each matters.

CSRS & FERS Pension Planning

Your federal pension is likely the foundation of your retirement income. Understanding when you can retire, how much income your pension may provide, and how survivor benefit elections affect your family can have a lasting impact on retirement.
We help you evaluate your retirement eligibility, project your pension under different retirement dates, and understand the trade-offs involved in retiring sooner or working longer.

Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) Strategy

For many federal employees, the TSP is their largest retirement asset. Decisions about investments, withdrawals, Roth conversions, and whether to leave funds in the TSP or move them to an IRA can have a significant impact on retirement income and taxes. We help you evaluate your options, understand the trade-offs, and coordinate your TSP strategy with your pension, Social Security, and overall retirement plan.

FEHB and Medicare Coordination

Your FEHB coverage may be one of the most valuable benefits you carry into retirement. Decisions about Medicare enrollment, which FEHB plan to keep, and how your coverage will work alongside Medicare can have a lasting impact on healthcare costs and coverage. We help you understand your options, evaluate the trade-offs, and make informed decisions about healthcare in retirement.

FEGLI Life Insurance Decisions

The life insurance decisions you make before retirement can have long-term consequences for both cost and coverage. As you age, certain FEGLI premiums can increase significantly, making it important to evaluate your options well before retirement. We help you understand your FEGLI elections, compare costs and benefits, and determine whether maintaining FEGLI, reducing coverage, or exploring private insurance alternatives may better support your family’s goals.

FERS Supplement

For eligible FERS retirees, the FERS Supplement can provide an important source of income between retirement and age 62. Understanding whether you qualify, how much you may receive, and how post-retirement earnings can affect the benefit is an important part of retirement planning. We help you evaluate how the FERS Supplement fits into your overall retirement income strategy and retirement timing decisions.

Survivor Benefit Plan

The survivor benefit election you make at retirement can affect both your retirement income and your spouse’s financial security for years to come. Because these decisions can be difficult or costly to change after retirement, they deserve careful consideration. We help you understand the costs, benefits, and trade-offs involved so you can make an informed decision based on your family’s needs and goals.

Social Security Timing for Federal Retirees

When to claim Social Security is one of the most important retirement income decisions you will make. Claiming earlier provides income sooner, while delaying can increase your monthly benefit for life. We help you evaluate your options and coordinate Social Security with your FERS pension and other income sources to create a retirement income strategy designed around your specific situation.

The 4 Numbers Every DFC Employee Should Know

Regardless of which agency you’re at, four numbers determine your retirement paycheck.

Number 1: Your Real Pension Percentage

Your FERS pension is 1.0% of your high-3 salary per year of service (1.1% if you retire at 62+ with 20+ years). But if you’re SCE — Special Category Employee, meaning BLM Rangers, USFWS Refuge Officers, NPS Law Enforcement, or federal firefighters — that jumps to 1.7% for your first 20 years. On a $95,000 high-3 with 22 years, that’s the difference between a $20,900/year pension and a $34,300/year pension. Roughly $13,400/year for life. Most retirement calculators don’t ask about SCE status. If yours didn’t, the number is wrong.

Number 2: Your FERS Supplement Termination Date

The FERS Retirement Supplement bridges income from your MRA (usually 57) to age 62 when Social Security kicks in. It ends the month you turn 62. If you earn more than the annual earnings limit ($22,320 in 2024) after retirement, your Supplement gets reduced. A $60,000 consulting year could zero out an entire Supplement year.

Number 3: Your Break-Even Year for Roth Conversions

Between your retirement date (usually 57-62 for FERS) and the year you turn 73 (when RMDs start), you have a gap window where your ordinary income drops but your TSP still grows tax-deferred. Converting Traditional TSP to Roth during those low-income years can save $50,000 to $250,000 in lifetime taxes. Any advisor who tells you “just convert 10% a year” without running the numbers is guessing.

Number 4: Your FEHB / Medicare Break-Even Age

At 65, you have to decide: keep FEHB alone, add Medicare Part B, or use Medicare Advantage. For most DFC employees, keeping FEHB and adding Part B is optimal — but not always. The cases where it isn’t are specific enough that they need to be checked, not assumed.

Retirement Traps by Agency at the Denver Federal Center

Because the DFC houses 26 agencies, retirement quirks depend heavily on which agency you actually work for.

USGS (U.S. Geological Survey)

USGS staff often have long careers with international field assignments. Many USGS scientists came in as term employees before converting to permanent — that early service may not automatically credit toward FERS retirement unless properly documented. We’ve seen 4-8 years of missing credit on USGS transition employees. That’s tens of thousands of dollars.

Bureau of Reclamation

BOR police (officer/security) are SCE. BOR also has a heavier concentration of employees who moved from state government (Colorado Water Board, etc.) — inbound service credit for prior public service can meaningfully increase your pension if you buy it back at the right time. Buy-back cost decreases the earlier you do it.

BLM (Bureau of Land Management)

BLM Rangers are SCE. BLM oil and gas field staff often qualify for enhanced retirement under hazardous duty categorization but many don’t file the paperwork.

IRS

IRS retirees frequently take TSP distributions in the year they retire (partial year of federal salary + full retirement paycheck), pushing into higher brackets than they’d realize. Timing the TSP distribution start date matters — sometimes by four figures.

NPS (National Park Service)

Park Rangers with law enforcement or firefighter designations are SCE. Non-LE NPS staff often have seasonal service history that isn’t automatically credited.

Forest Service (USFS)

Similar seasonal service crediting issues as NPS. USFS also has the highest rate of employees near the DFC who work partly from home or remote — this affects federal locality pay calculations, which flow through to your high-3.

The pattern across all 26 agencies is the same: someone in HR at your agency will hand you a “retirement estimate” that uses standard FERS math. Standard FERS math is wrong for many DFC employees. That’s why the Federal Retirement Report exists.

How to Vet a Federal Retirement Advisor Before You Sign Anything

There are a lot of financial advisors marketing to DFC employees. Not all give federal employees advice actually in the employee’s best interest.

1. Are you a fiduciary on everything you sell me, or only on some things?

The correct answer is “on everything.” If they hedge — “we’re fiduciary on the investment side but not on insurance products” — that means when they recommend an annuity, they’re not required to act in your best interest, only to sell you a “suitable” product. Federal employees end up in fixed indexed annuities because “suitable” allows for a lot of things “best interest” doesn’t.

2. How are you paid?

Fee-based/fee-only advisors are paid by you. Commission-based advisors are paid by the products they sell. Dual-registered advisors switch depending on the transaction. If they can’t clearly explain how they’ll get paid on your specific recommendations, that’s the answer.

3. How many federal employees have you worked with, specifically at my agency?

Federal retirement is specialized enough that generic advisors get it wrong. Ask for specifics — not just “we work with federal employees” but “we’ve worked with 40 USGS scientists in the last two years.”

4. Will you show me the annuity contract, surrender schedule, and commission before I sign anything?

If they’re recommending an annuity, this is the acid test. Fixed indexed annuities typically have 7-14 year surrender schedules — 8-10% penalty in year one, decreasing over time. The commission paid to the advisor is often 6-9% of the invested amount, up front.

5. If I don’t do anything, what happens?

Any good advisor will tell you the honest baseline. Sometimes the right advice is: your current TSP allocation is fine, keep contributing, we’ll check in yearly. If every conversation ends with “here’s what you need to buy,” you’re being sold to, not planned for.

Frequently Asked Questions About Federal Retirement Planning

When can a federal employee retire under FERS?

Under FERS, eligibility for retirement depends on both your age and years of service. You can generally retire with an immediate, unreduced pension at your Minimum Retirement Age (MRA) with 30 years of service, at age 60 with 20 years of service, or at age 62 with at least 5 years of service. Your MRA ranges from age 55 to 57 depending on your birth year. Other options, including MRA+10, deferred retirement, and postponed retirement, may also be available depending on your circumstances.

How is my FERS pension calculated?

Your FERS pension is calculated using three factors: your years of creditable service, your high-three average salary, and a pension multiplier.

For most employees, the formula is:
1% × High-Three Average Salary × Years of Creditable Service

If you retire at age 62 or later with at least 20 years of service, the multiplier increases by 10 percent to 1.1%, resulting in a larger pension for life. Your high-three is the average of your highest consecutive 36 months of basic pay. Because retirement dates, service history, unused sick leave, and other factors can affect your pension, it is important to calculate your benefit based on your specific circumstances.

What happens to my TSP when I retire?

When you retire, you generally have several options for your TSP. You can leave your money in the TSP, take withdrawals, purchase a TSP annuity, or roll some or all of your balance to an IRA or another eligible retirement plan. The right choice depends on factors such as investment options, fees, withdrawal flexibility, tax considerations, and your overall retirement income strategy. What works best for one retiree may not be the best fit for another.

Can I keep FEHB into retirement?

In most cases, yes. To continue your Federal Employees Health Benefits (FEHB) coverage into retirement, you generally must retire with an immediate annuity and have been continuously covered under FEHB (or covered as a family member) for the five years immediately preceding retirement, or for all periods of service during which FEHB was available to you if less than five years. Because exceptions and special situations can apply, it is important to confirm your eligibility before making retirement decisions.

What is the FERS Supplement and who gets it?

The FERS Supplement is a temporary benefit designed to approximate the Social Security benefit earned during your federal service. It is available only to certain FERS retirees who retire before age 62 under an immediate retirement provision. The supplement generally begins when you become eligible to receive it and ends at age 62, whether or not you claim Social Security at that time. For some retirees, the benefit may be reduced if post-retirement earnings exceed annual limits established by the Social Security Administration.

How does Survivor Benefit Plan work?

At retirement, you may have the option to elect a survivor benefit for your spouse. In exchange for a reduction in your pension, the survivor benefit can provide continuing income to your spouse after your death.
The decision involves important trade-offs. Survivor benefits can help protect a spouse’s future income and may be an important consideration in preserving FEHB coverage for a surviving spouse. At the same time, survivor elections reduce your pension and should be evaluated alongside other resources available to your family.
The right election depends on factors such as your income needs, your spouse’s financial resources, healthcare considerations, life insurance coverage, and other retirement assets. Because survivor benefit elections can be difficult or costly to change after retirement, it is important to evaluate the decision carefully before retiring.

Do I need a financial advisor for federal retirement, or can I figure it out myself?

Many federal employees successfully educate themselves about their retirement benefits. The question is not whether you can learn the rules. The question is whether you have the time, interest, and confidence to evaluate how all of the decisions fit together.
Retirement timing, pension elections, TSP withdrawals, Social Security, FEHB, FEGLI, survivor benefits, and taxes can all affect one another. A mistake in one area can have consequences in another.
Our role is to help you understand your options, evaluate the trade-offs, and make informed decisions based on your specific circumstances so you can move into retirement with greater clarity and confidence. If you’d like personalized guidance, you can schedule a consultation to discuss your retirement goals and benefits strategy.

Serving Federal Employees Across The Colorado Front Range

Stonebridge is based in the Denver metro area and works with federal employees throughout Colorado’s Front Range.

Our clients serve in a wide range of federal agencies and organizations across the state, including the Denver Federal Center, VA Eastern Colorado Health Care System, Buckley Space Force Base, the Internal Revenue Service, the United States Mint, NREL, NOAA, NIST, and many others.

We meet with clients in person at our Inverness office and virtually throughout Colorado.

Primary Service Area

Denver · Littleton · Highlands Ranch · Centennial · Lakewood · Englewood · Parker · Castle Rock · Aurora · Arvada · Westminster · Broomfield · Thornton · Wheat Ridge · Golden · Lone Tree

Extended Service Area

Colorado Springs · Boulder · Fort Collins · Loveland · Greeley · Pueblo

Start With A Federal Retirement Report

The Federal Retirement Report is designed to help you understand where you stand today and what decisions may lie ahead. Built around your service history, benefits, and retirement goals, it provides a personalized analysis of your pension, TSP, healthcare benefits, survivor elections, retirement income, and other key planning considerations.

There is no cost and no obligation. It is simply a practical way to gain clarity before making important retirement decisions.

Get Your Federal Retirement Report

More Colorado federal retirement guides

Start with the overview at Federal Retirement Planning in Denver, Colorado, or jump to guides for other cities and specific installations across the Front Range.

Federal Retirement Resources by City and Calculator

Federal retirement planning for federal employees in these Colorado communities:

Denver — federal workers across the downtown federal district, Denver Federal Center, and the wider metro
Littleton — near our Inverness office
Highlands Ranch — Douglas County’s federal households
Colorado Springs — Peterson SFB, Schriever SFB, Cheyenne Mountain, Fort Carson, USAFA

Free calculators for federal employees:

FERS Pension Calculator — estimate your federal annuity
TSP Withdrawal Calculator — sustainable monthly withdrawals
FERS Supplement Calculator — bridge income from MRA to age 62
Retirement Income Calculator — combine your pension, TSP, and Social Security

Denver Federal Center employees: if you work at the Denver Federal Center in Lakewood, we have a dedicated page covering agency-specific retirement traps at USGS, BOR, BLM, IRS, NPS, and Forest Service, plus the 4 numbers every DFC employee should know.